Jump to a specific section of the profile:

Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

As a result of armed conflicts dating back to 1963, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau was contaminated by both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, and explosive remnants of war (ERW).

On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligations under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported residual contamination from mines/ERW and submitted an extension request.[1]

Guinea-Bissau is responsible for significant numbers of mine/ERW survivors. Yet there is only one physical rehabilitation center, located in the capital, Bissau, and persons with disabilities living in remote areas remained difficult to reach. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) support to the physical rehabilitation center was reported to be ending in December 2022.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, and in accordance with the two-month extension request granted in 2010, Guinea-Bissau was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but no later than 1 January 2012. On 5 December 2012, at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligation under the treaty.[2]

In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported residual contamination from mines/ERW and submitted an extension request until 31 December 2022.[3]

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

The National Mine Action Coordination Center (Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas, CAAMI), established in 2001, and under the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defense since 2009, coordinated mine action operations in Guinea-Bissau. It has been inactive since 2012.[4] In March 2021, CAAMI reported that a new director had been appointed, and that it had resumed its activities,[5] although it also reported that it did not have the financial resources to fulfil its mandate.[6]

The national mine action database in Guinea-Bissau has not been functional for seven years.[7]

Risk education management and coordination

Risk education management and coordination overview[8]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[9]

Laws and policies

There is no law in Guinea-Bissau that specifically prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. During 2020, no efforts to counter discrimination against persons with disabilities or ensure access to buildings were made.[10]

Former military personnel with disabilities received pensions from the Ministry of National Defense, but this support did not adequately address health, housing, or food needs.[11]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination (as of December 2020)[12]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

In December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its mine clearance obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[13] However, in its declaration of clearance completion, Guinea-Bissau noted that “Battle Area Clearance tasks remain as well as an expected residual contamination which will be addressed by CAAMI.”[14] Following the declaration, clearance operators and mine action donors withdrew from Guinea-Bissau.[15]

At the Fourth Review Conference in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported residual ERW contamination, and said 22 months would be necessary to complete clearance.[16] In 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported that residual contamination comprised both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, covering 0.49km² and 0.6km² respectively across nine confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs). In addition, 43 areas were suspected to contain both mines and ERW.[17] Guinea-Bissau reported that it did not have the financial resources to conduct survey and clearance operations.[18] The data on CHA reported in 2021 is the result of a 2014 survey conducted by Humanitarian Aid in Guinea-Bissau (HUMAID). The 43 SHA were identified by HUMAID through reports from the local population.[19] Since 2014, no new survey has been conducted.

Cluster munition remnant contamination

The last known unexploded submunitions were reportedly destroyed by Cleared Ground Demining (CGD) in August 2008.[20] However, in 2009, Guinea-Bissau submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report which referred to “some clusters” at Paiol da Bra ammunition storage area.[21] CGD later reported clearing 73 PTAB 2.5M submunitions at Paiol da Bra in 2009.[22]

In June 2010, the general director of CAAMI acknowledged that cluster munition contamination was a problem in Guinea-Bissau, but stated that survey was needed to identify its extent.[23] In 2010, CGD found and destroyed six unexploded PTAB 2.5M submunitions during sub-surface clearance at Paiol da Bra.[24] In March 2011, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) reported that no unexploded submunitions had been found during its survey of contamination in Guinea-Bissau.[25]

In its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report submitted in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau stated that cluster munition contaminated areas were cleared before the convention entered into force for the country.[26]

ERW contamination

In 2021, CAAMI reported 0.4km² contaminated with ERW across five CHAs, based on 2014 data, and an additional 43 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) contaminated with mines/ERW.[27]

Casualties

Mine/ERW casualties: details

No mine/ERW casualties have been reported in Guinea-Bissau since 2016, when a boy was killed by an ERW in Bissorã, in Oio region.[28] One ERW incident was however reported in January 2021, when two children were killed and six children were injured by the explosion of a grenade left in an old army barracks in Buruntuma.[29]

The Monitor recorded 211 mine/ERW casualties (75 killed, 91 injured, and 45 survival unknown) in Guinea-Bissau between 2001 and 2016. No new mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea-Bissau between 2017 and 2020. There has been no comprehensive national data collection since 2013.

From 1963 to 2020, a total of 1,581mine/ERW casualties were reported, including at least 1,430 survivors.[30] However, this is not believed to be a comprehensive figure. The 1963–2020 casualties include 1,533 casualties reported in a statement by Guinea-Bissau in December 2013 and CAAMI reporting through December 2013, as well as an additional 48 casualties for 2014 and 2016. In a 2013 statement, Guinea-Bissau recognized that some mine/ERW survivors might have since died, and that many more casualties likely went unrecorded.[31] No disaggregated information was available on the military or civilian status of casualties. Guinea-Bissau reported that an estimated 80% of all casualties were boys and men, the majority of whom were farmers.[32] In 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported that there were close to 1,300 mine survivors in the country.[33]

Cluster munition casualties

While the total number of casualties from cluster munitions in Guinea-Bissau is not known, there were 11 casualties reported during an attack on a weapons depot in 1998, with the explosion that resulted in the casualties involving cluster munitions.[34] In 2019, the Ministry of National Defense indicated that it was not aware of any cluster munition casualties in Guinea-Bissau.[35] In its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report for calendar year 2020, Guinea-Bissau noted that it needed to conduct a survey in order to identify cluster munition survivors.[36]

Addressing the Impact

Risk education

No risk education activities have been conducted since 2012, due to a lack of funding.[37]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators and activities

Victim assistance operators overview[38]

Major developments in 2020

A General Direction for Inclusive Education was created in 2020, with support from Humanity & Inclusion (HI).[39] Efforts were made to identify persons with disabilities, including children, living in remote areas, with the support of organizations of persons with disabilities.[40]

HI provided hygiene kits for all beneficiaries during group activities, in addition to information on physical distancing and COVID-19 protection measures.[41]

Needs assessment

Guinea-Bissau reported a need to conduct a survey to identify cluster munition survivors.[42]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Six hospitals in Guinea-Bissau have the capacity to provide medical care to mine/ERW survivors; but only one hospital, in the capital, Bissau, could treat very serious injuries.[43]

The Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), supported by the ICRC, remained the only physical rehabilitation center in Guinea-Bissau.[44] The ICRC covered the cost of treatment for 596 CRM patients, including accommodation and transport for 12 Senegalese survivors.[45] Limited rehabilitation services were also provided in healthcare centers, although staff were not qualified.[46] Persons with disabilities living outside the capital, Bissau, remained difficult to reach. The ICRC and the CRM conducted media events and outreach visits to remote areas, to identify persons with disabilities in need of physical rehabilitation services.[47]

Since 2015, mine/ERW survivors from Senegal have been receiving prosthetic devices at the CRM through an agreement between the ICRC, Senegal’s national mine action authority, and Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD). This agreement will end when the ICRC closes its program in Guinea-Bissau in December 2022. HI indicated that it did not have the resources to take over the support of the CRM from the ICRC.[48]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

In 2020, the ICRC donated sports wheelchairs and other equipment to a local organization, to advance the social inclusion of persons with disabilities.[49]